I won’t be sending in a Barisic note .. I’ll scrap for a new deal
SAYS
best of me yet. At the start of the season I thought it was going to be a good one for myself but then I got the injuries.
“I still feel I can play a part, that’s all I want.
“We all want success and silverware this season. We’re all together as a squad and I can still be part of that.
“There could be opportunities for me in December because there’s a lot of game time between now and the winter break.
“There will be a few changes made to the team so I’ve just got to take my chance when I get in.
“It has been a difficult season for me up until now. It has been frustrating.
“I’ve been back for six weeks now, fully fit, and I feel up to speed. I’m feeling good and ready to show what I can do.”
That will be easier said than done given the form Tavernier and Barisic are in right now.
The skipper endured a tough period earlier in the season but has recovered and was excellent in the 2-2 Europa League draw with Feyenoord in midweek.
And Barisic has made the leftback slot his own after a torrid time, his cross for Al fredo Morelos’ second goal in Rotterdam on Thursday a clear sign of his new-found confidence.
But Flanagan has to keep believing he’ll get an opportunity.
And at least having a guy he once shared a dressing- room with as boss means he’ ll get complete honesty from Gerrard. Flanagan said: “It’s difficult for me because Tav and Borna are both in top form.
“But when I get my chance I just need to perform at that level to try to take their shirt.
“Maybe my versatility works against me at times but I don’t pick the team – it’s down to the manager who plays in each position.
“Maybe it could go the other way because he knows he can rely on me when needed at either right or left-back.
“So I’m a good option to have on the bench as well.
“I know the manager will give me straightforward answers. “I’ve known him for a long time now and he has always been that way with me.
“If I ever need anything, I’ll go to see him. And if he ever needs to talk to me about something, he’ll do it openly and honestly. “We were f riends as team- mates but it ’ s different now.
“Things have obviously changed a bit but we still have a good relationship.” If Rangers are going to win the title and end
Celtic’s glory run, Gerrard will need his entire squad to pull their weight between now and next May.
At the moment it looks like it will go right down to the wire with Celtic as both Old Firm clubs relentlessly see off the opposition on a weekly basis.
Flanagan is used to that kind of pressure after being involved in Liverpool’s Premier League title fight with Manchester City in 2014.
He said: “The title race is definitely similar here to back then with Liverpool.
“If you want to win the league with Rangers you have to keep on winning every single week and it was the same for us at Liverpool that year.”